Child of My Winter by Andrew Lanh

Author:Andrew Lanh
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Published: 2017-03-20T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Dustin Trang surprised me. Sitting in the adjunct faculty office, I’d been dreamily marking final exams, getting ready to leave to do some Christmas shopping, when I heard the tentative knock. Dustin was standing on one foot, balancing himself, adjusting the book bag on his shoulders, while curiously picking lint off the ratty sweater he wore.

“I finished my final exam with Professor Laramie.”

I waited. He watched me, one nervous finger still picking at the fabric.

“Is that your last one?”

“They don’t want me here on campus.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Everybody looks at me, you know. People stop walking to watch me.”

“Come in.”

He moved by me and took a seat. Strangely, he kept his book bag slung over his shoulder, forcing him to sit awkwardly, his body tipped to the side. His winter coat was open, a pair of gloves protruding from one pocket, a knit cap stuck in the other.

He avoided me, his eyes sailing left, then right, unable to focus.

“What’s up, Dustin?”

“You went to Uncle Binh’s house.” The declarative words were too loud, laced with question. “Everybody is unhappy.”

“They invited me there.”

“Why?”

“They didn’t tell you?”

“Yeah, I know.” A hint of a smile. “The on-going troubles with Anh Ky Trang, boy blunder.”

I raised my voice. “Stop that, Dustin. For Christ’s sake, don’t put yourself down like that.”

His eyes fluttered. “They think because you’re investigating things—for me, I guess—they think it causes more problems. More TV crap. You know, more…”

“They want this all to go away.”

He spoke quickly. “So do I.”

“But it won’t until Ben’s murderer is arrested.”

Dustin flinched as he looked back to the doorway as if someone were there, eavesdropping. “I didn’t do it.”

“I know that. But I also know you’re holding back information.” I counted a heartbeat. “Are you protecting someone, Dustin?”

He sat up, startled. “That’s…like nonsense.”

“Is it?”

He stood up, pulled his overcoat around his chest, though immediately it fell back open. “They’re angry.”

“Uncle Binh and Aunt Suong?”

He nodded. “They said you won’t listen to reason. I had to go there last night and talk to them.”

“I met Timmy again. Even Hollis.”

A grunt. “Yeah, the ex-con.”

“They’re not nice folks.”

A harsh giggle escaped his throat. “Yeah, like understatement of the year. I avoid them. Or they avoid me. Hollis was in jail for…like five or six years. Now he’s back. Jackass of all trades. Low-rent heroin dealer in the shadow of Bristol Mall.”

“Then he’s gonna go back to jail again.”

He made an invisible check mark in the air. “The sooner the better.”

“And Timmy?”

“He’s all right. Just dumb. The only thing that makes him happy is the all-you-can-eat buffet at Tokyo Szechuan, him and his fat wife. Two Buddha look-alikes gnawing at the crab legs.”

I laughed. “He could be doing worse things.”

He was through talking. “Whatever.”

He backed up, bumped into the doorframe.

“Dustin, your family wants me to stop investigating. Me and Hank. Do you want me to stop?”

His tongue rolled over his lower lip. “No.”

“Then I won’t.”

“I like Hank,” he said flatly. “He listens to me.”

“He’s a good guy.”

“I never knew a cop before.

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